Boeing 737 of the International Airlines of Ukraine bound for Kyiv crashed after takeoff from the Iranian Imam Khomeini Airport because of a technical malfunction “, Reuters, an International News Agency, reported on Wednesday morning, January 8.
The Embassy of Ukraine in Iran has confirmed this information. The Embassy said that the plane had crashed at about 6 a.m. Tehran time a few minutes after takeoff. According to rescuers, all passangers and the crew were killed in the fatal crash.
The National Defense and Security Council of Ukraine has informed that there were 168 passangers and nine crew members onboard the aircraft.
In his Twitter page, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko posted the message about the countries of origin of the crash victims. “"We now know the following information about the countries of origin of the PS 752 plane crash victims: Iran – 82; Canada – 63; Ukraine – 2 + 9 (members of the crew); Sweden – 10; Afghanistan – 4; Germany – 3; the United Kingdom – 3," the message reads.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy responded to the tragedy, “The terrible news came from the Middle East. This morning, after takeoff from the Imam Khomeini International Airport the passanger aircraft of the International Airlines of Ukraine crashed down not far from the airport”, said the President. He expressed his condolences to the familes and relatives of the passangers and the crew.
“A tragic morning. I’m expressing my sincere condolences to the relatives of the killed in the crash of the Ukrainian plane in Iran. This tragedy took almost 180 human lives”, stressed Verkhovna Rada Speaker Dmytro Razumkov. “Our task is to establish the cause of the fall of the Boeing jet and render all necessary aid to the families of the killed”, he said.
President Zelensky ordered Prosecutor-General Ruslan Ryaboshapka to begin criminal proceedings with regard to the crash of the plane of the International Airlines of Ukraine (IAU) in Iran.
The presidential press office quoted Zelenskyy as saying, “I’ve commissioned the Prosecutor-General to begin criminal proceedings concerning the IAU plane crash in Teheran. We will set up an investigation commission of officials of power agencies and civil aviation departments. All possible versions of the crash cause will be considered. Regardless of conclusions about the cause of the catastrophy in Iran, we will conduct the inspection of the aircraft performance of the entire air service transport”.
RT Telegram-channel informs that a black box from the wrecked aircraft has been found at the crash site. The Iranian local search and rescue services have handed over the box to the local authorities for further examination. However, they have not specified which of the two recording devices ‒ a voice or a flight parameters recorder ‒ has been found.
Since the accident has occurred in the territory of Iran, the causes of Boeing 737 crash will be investigated by the Iranian authorities too, as international law requires. However, only few countries such as the United States and France have all technical means to conduct a thorough investigation. For instance, a specially equipped lab is needed to decipher the airborne recorders.
In accordance with international rules, the country-manufacturer of the plane is allowed to participate in the investigation effort in order to provide all necessary technical data. But such participation is unlikely because of a current conflict between Iran and the United States.
Although so far the official cause of the catastrophy is a technical malfunction, certain foreing media suggest that the plane could have been shot down by an Iranian anti-aircraft missile. For instance, the British newspaper Daily Mail and the Jordanian publication Al Hadath claim that the air accident took place several hours after an Iranian strike against American military bases. Besides, a video shows that the plane was already aflame before it hit the ground.
The newspaper Holos Ukrainy
